Keep Those Really Junior Execs Happy

Firms go ga-ga over not losing mom for months

(NEWSER) - Every day can be bring-your-child-to-work day, the New York Times reports, as more companies are allowing parents to bring their babies into the office. The move helps moms and dads dodge the financial hit of parental leave while simultaneously spending time with their kids. “I have not heard anyone react other than enthusiastically,” says one mom and CEO, who puts in 12-hour days with her two kids next-door. More»

Add some Marley, Beach Boys to the Disney playlist

(NEWSER) - Parents, don’t let Disney's catalog of saccharine tunes ruin any more of your road trips. There are songs that can bridge the generation gap, Lindsay Armstrong writes on Babble:

• Jackson Five’s “ABC”: School the kids on the alphabet and pop music—all at once.
• Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself": If it’s good enough for the Muppets, it’s good enough for your brood.
• Simon and Garfunkel’s “Me and Julio": The kids will love characters like “Mama Pajama” and “Rosie, the Queen of Corona.”

Think before offering 'constructive criticism,' then ... keep it to yourself: Warner

(NEWSER) - The maternal resentment has evidently been building up for a while, and New York Times blogger Judith Warner is letting loose. She recounts slights perpetrated against her and her friends and wonders: "Why do people so often permit themselves to dump—verbally, emotionally, with a surgically precise ability to wound viscerally—on mothers? And why do we put up with it? " More»

You mean we actually have to work?

(NEWSER) - Funny how the hours between 9am and 5pm just fly by when Facebook is involved. Unfortunately, our bosses are on to us. A study by OpenDNS reports which websites were most blocked by companies in 2010. The Huffington Post has the top 10, noting the proportion of business networks that have blacklisted the site:

• eBay, 1.6%: No bidding on that unworn pair of Uggs.
• Hotmail.com, 2.1%: Business email only, please.

Managing the expectations of your free-spending kids

(NEWSER) - What to do with a 10-year-old daughter who insists—insists!—on designer 'jeggings' for fall? "Manage expectations," advises the Wall Street Journal in a feature on suddenly cash-strapped middle income parents and their "costly" kids. Today's children face a real drop in their standard of living, writes Sue Shellengarger, and it's up to their parents to guide them through this "painful" shift. More»